AFRICAN POETRY; THE ORIGINAL ASPECTS THAT CREATES IT'S DYNAMISM

Image source; pure bliss to poetry

Poetry has always been about the strongest connection, the message, the thematic expressions, the feelings they tend to convey and one very important factor; the different consumer's poetic interpretations that's uniquely separate from view to view. Now when we speak of African poetry, there is always a dynamism that people from the western world always misses out when reading an African poetry, and this is the fact that an African poet is mostly of the perception that a western reader or a non-african reader of their works needs an extra bit of Imagery in order to convey fully the setting of a poem, the native conceptualization (that's if one is present, including a local word, name or something that was original written in Vernacular), the themes and even the subject matter in general. The truth is that this aspect makes African poems very rich in Imageries, because imageries helps readers understand and ignite the senses of taste, sight, touch, hearing and olfactory as well. Apart from painting imageries that appeals to the five senses, they try creating imageries In a more vivid way, using less figurative expressions like personification, litotes, synedoche and many more in other to make the painting of mental pictures more obvious in a literary work of art like (prose, poetry & drama) however Imageries aren't only the poetic devices there we also have the tools of comparisons which are Similes and metaphor.

You see in other to really drive home a phrase, a literary idea or perceptions you need comparisons to create mental images of semblance and that's where similes and metaphor comes in and that's why an African poet conveys a certain idea by painting a picture by comparing things physically present either directly or indirectly and definitely (Simile & metaphor) creating a situation igniting the five senses which definitely brings or drive home a perception, a theme, a subject matter or even the literal meaning to an amazing piece. We can see examples of African poems using this to really bring to the non-africans a certain kind of understanding which doesn't come until a methodology is met. We could see this in P.C UMEH's Ambassador of poverty J.P Clark's ABIKU as well. This two piece original or alpha theme was Corruption and reincarnation respective, of which was a dire situation in the Nigeria where the poem definitely set in, was a major problem in the Nigeria during the post colonial era. So the truth is, the poets makes strong use of Imageries and mainly metaphors as well as a little bit of Simile and when you take look at a line like

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And at harmattan, the bamboo walls
Are ready tinder for the fire
That dries the fresh fish up on the rack.
(JP CLARKS'S abiku)

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Ambassadors of poverty are
The saviours of the people
Office loafers in the guise of workers
Barons of incompetence
With kleptomaniac fingers
And suckling filaments

(P.O.C umeh's ambassadors of poverty)

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The two different poems in my analogy uses a powerful ability for description which paints dire situation and very bad or telling circumstances. Making it very easier for a non-african to understand how bad or how far an extent of poverty went through Clark in the first poem used words like bamboo walls to tell of how olden the infrastructure of a typical home of abode of people suffering deprivation as well as that aspect of reincarnation as well.
The thruth is that less imageries could have been used here, but the truth is that there is a yearning to reveal more or see into that African phenomenon which obviously showcases the richness, the bizarre-ness, the awesomeness or the absurdity in a particular practice, happening of normalcy that may seem strange to the western world, their way of life and culture as well and it's only natural that African poets try going into swept details, first In other to reveal, in order to make known, thrill, teach and finally entertain as well.
Here's an amazing poem wonderfully done by me, it's titled Ugonma which means beautiful gem It extols the African perception of beauty very different from the condiments or rudimentary characteristics of what we can call westernized definition of beauty. So I used a lot of simile and metaphor to make comparison obviously to drive home that original depiction of beauty that I wanted to pass across, like for example look at the line; Your beauty is a plantation of smile

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IN CONCLUSION

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In actuality, this ability to paint a more vivid picture into that exclusive Africanism still remains the reason why the western world gives unadulterated value to African literature, pamphlets, dramas and prose works in general, so there's a rich historical angle to every African poet's persona when actually writing and that's why they spend so much effort developing this aspect using imageries, Similes and metaphors as well a deep ability for descriptive tendencies.

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